Thanks to the late-headed goal scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal was able to claim a 1-0 victory against the Czech Republic on Thursday, which in turn sends them into the semifinals of Euro 2012.

The first half of the match was considered disappointing for the first quarterfinal match of the competition. Early chances by the Czech Republic only came from corner kicks, which they were unable to capitalize on due to very poor deliveries.

Portugal seemed to get into the game later in the first half, when Ronaldo fired a beautiful shot that Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech was able to save with an amazing dive. The goal would not have counted if it had gone in, due to referee Howard Webb stopping play mid-pass that was not heard by the Portuguese forward.

In the final minute of the first half, Ronaldo came up again after handling a great cross from Raul Meireles. He gained control of the ball and kicked it straight into the post, the only thing that could stop him from giving Portugal the lead. The chance gave off a strong sense of determination from Portugal, who went into halftime in control of the game even though both teams have not yet scored.

Portugal came out ready to play, with Hugo Almeida missing a header by inches only a couple minutes into the second half. Ronaldo showed up yet again five minutes later with a close chance, taking a bending free-kick that struck the post again instead of hitting the back of the net.

The Czech Republic did not seem as though they were trying to take any offensive chances; Portugal controlled much of the possession throughout the early part of the second half, and the Czech’s seemed to stay on the defensive no matter what. The only real chance for the Czech Republic came in at the 60 minute mark, when Vaclav Pilar managed to speed around the Portuguese defenders with ease, only to give the ball away with a disappointing attempt at a cross.

After several more attempts from Portugal, which were all wide of the net or beautifully saved by Cech, Ronaldo was finally able to capitalize in the 80th minute after a great cross from Joao Moutinho. Ronaldo found room and headed the ball directly into the ground, which in turn ricocheted over the diving Petr Cech and into the top of the goal.

This lone goal was all that was needed in order to send Portugal into the semifinals. For a team that has never won a title at the Euro’s, Portugal heads into the semifinals as an underdog that shows no signs of letting this chance slip through their fingers.

Portugal will play in their semifinal match on June 27 against the winner of the quarterfinal match between Spain and France, which is scheduled for June 23.

Image Courtesy of  Rui Alexandre Araujo / Shutterstock.com

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The Czech Republic, who were humbled in their opening game against Russia, took on Greece at the Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland in search of their opening win in the tournament.

It did not take long before the Czech fans were celebrating as they took the lead in just the third minute of the game. Veteran player Tomas Hubschman unlocked the Greek defense with a pinpoint pass for Petr Jiracek, and Czech midfielder had little difficulty beating Kostas Chalkias with his left foot.

No sooner than the Czech fans’ cheers had died down, they were once more on their feet celebrating their second goal of the game. A drilled cross from Gebre Selassie was dealt with poorly by Greek goalkeeper Chalkias, who only managed to palm the ball into the path of the arriving Vaclav Pilar and the ball was bundled into the back of the net off of the knee of Pilar.

Chalkias’ nightmare start to the game came to an early end as he walked off with an injury to be replaced by Michalis Sifakis, who was almost immediately called upon to make a good diving save to prevent Tomas Rosicky from extending the Czechs’ lead.

Despite being down 2-0, and in desperate need of at least one goal before half time, the Greece team looked lethargic for the rest of the half, failing to trouble the Czech defense with any meaningful attacks. The closest Greece came to pulling a goal back was through Giorgos Fotakis, who headed the ball in at the far post from a cross, only for the linesman to raise his flag for offside and ensure the score remained unchanged at the interval.

Instead of pressing hard to get back into the game in the second half, Greece was lucky to not be further behind when Selassie’s shot found its way to the feet of Milas Baros but the striker couldn’t connect properly with the ball and wasted a golden opportunity.

A lifeline was gifted the Greeks, however, when a cross was spilled by Czech goalkeeper, Petr Cech, following a mix up with Tomas Sivok, leaving Fanis Gekas with the easiest of finishes to give Greece their first goal.

The goal seemed to spur on Greece who was now in control of the game, but a combination of bad finishing and a lack of a final pass saw the Greeks spurn a host of chances as the game moved into the final 15 minutes.

Despite doing much better in the second half, Greece was unable to find a much needed equalizer, leaving them in the precarious position of needing to beat the strong Russia side in their last group game if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages. The Czechs on the other hand are in a much better position going into their last game against Poland and, providing they can replicate their form from the first half of this game, will fancy their chances of qualifying from the group.

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After the drama that came out of Poland and Greece’s opening day match, Russia and the Czech Republic had a lot to measure up to in their first match of Euro 2012. Russia was able to come out on top with a 4-1 thrashing of the Czech Republic, which took them to the top of the group standings after the first day of play in the tournament and sent Czech down to the very bottom.

With rain coming down on the players at the Stadion Miejski, both teams started the game off very lively and positive. The Czech Republic held possession throughout the beginning of the first half, while Russia threw all their effort into set pieces and their counterattack.

It did not take too long for Russia to finally capitalize on the attack. Konstantin Zyryanov crossed the ball into the box in the 15^th minute, which Aleksandr Kerzhakov headed directly into the far post. This then went straight to Alan Dzagoev, who cleaned up the rebound that bounced right to him in front of the Czech Republic goal and gave Russia the 1-0 lead.

Nine minutes later, Russia came again on the counterattack to get their second goal. After Czech player Jaroslav Plasil lost possession in the midfield, Andrei Arshavin placed a perfect pass onto the boot of Roman Shirokov, who easily chipped the ball over the hesitant Czech goalkeeper into the back of the net to increase the score 2-0.

Russia’s deadly counterattack continued to break down the shaky Czech defense throughout the end of the first half; these attacks began with the talented Arshavin, who always seemed to be in control of the situation. However, many of these chances ended at the feet of Kerzhakov, who seemed unable to finish plays the entire match.

The Czech Republic began to show signs of life at the end of the first half; but, just like their opponent, they were unable to capitalize on their chances. This offensive mindset continued for the Czech Republic into the second half, where their efforts finally showed some reward in a goal scored by Vaclav Pilar. Pilar received a beautiful pass from Plasil, and then managed to get around Russian goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev to put the ball into the practically empty net. With the score only 2-1, it seemed as though the game was not going to end as it was expected to.

The goal from Pilar seemed to be a game changer, since the following several minutes played after the goal made Russia appear a very average team. The Czech Republic found their purpose, while the Russians tried to regain their footing.

With Czech beginning to throw almost every man behind the ball on the attack to get the equalizer, Russia was left with even more chances on the counter. However, Kerzhakov broke down his own team’s offense by sending his shots too wide or directly into the goalkeeper’s hands.

Kerzhakov was finally substituted in the minute 73 for Roman Pavlyuchenko, who Russian manager Dick Advocaat hoped would be able to help finish at least one of the many counter attempts that his team kept having. Six minutes later, Pavlyuchenko fed a beautiful pass to Dzagoev, who shot the ball past Petr Cech for his second goal of the night and gave Russia the 3-1 lead. Three minutes later, on another counter, Pavlyuchenko managed his way around four Czech defenders. He shot from 15 yards away, which got by the Czech goalkeeper to increase the lead to the final score of 4-1.

The more times the Czech’s pushed on the offensive, the more opportunities Russia had to capitalize on their deadly counterattack. This somewhat comfortable win brought Russia to the top of the group standings and sent the Czech Republic to the bottom. With the outcomes of the match between Poland and Greece, every team has a chance of surviving the group stages and making it to the quarterfinals.

Russia is set to play against Poland next Tuesday, while the Czech Republic ready to face Greece that same day.

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